In Re: Michael Roy Bressler

Background

This matter was an appeal from a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case. Michael Roy Bressler, the debtor and a former attorney proceeding without a lawyer, appealed a Bankruptcy Court order entered on July 21, 2020. The Bankruptcy Court had denied Bressler’s motion to hold Stephen Paul Dewey’s counsel in contempt. Bressler argued that he had already been discharged from the obligation to Steven Strum, a former client who had obtained a judgment against Bressler in Bronx County Supreme Court.

Bressler filed the appeal on October 22, 2020. He later asked the District Court to pause the appeal while a state-court motion to vacate and set aside Strum’s judgment was pending. The District Court denied that request as moot on January 19, 2022, because the state court had already denied Bressler’s request on March 29, 2021. In the same order, the District Court directed Bressler to complete the appeal under Bankruptcy Rule 8018 by February 18, 2022.

Failure to prosecute

Bankruptcy Rule 8009 generally requires an appellant to file a brief within 14 days after the appeal is entered on the docket, unless the court sets a different deadline. The court explained that missing this deadline does not automatically eliminate the appeal, but the court may dismiss an appeal after considering the circumstances, including bad faith, negligence, or indifference. The court also stated that it could dismiss the appeal for failure to prosecute, meaning failure to take the steps needed to move the case forward.

Bressler never filed the required brief. The court found that the deadline had expired 222 days earlier and that Bressler had not communicated with the court since March 2, 2021. The court also noted that Bressler never informed it that the state court had denied his request to vacate the judgment, leaving the request to pause the appeal pending for an additional period. Although the court recognized that people without lawyers receive some flexibility, it stated that they must still comply with procedural rules. It further observed that Bressler was a former attorney and had previously filed a similar bankruptcy appeal that was dismissed for failure to prosecute.

Disposition

The court found Bressler’s conduct and delay inexcusable and concluded that a lesser sanction was unwarranted because he had failed to communicate with the court for 18 months and 26 days. The court therefore dismissed the appeal based on negligence or indifference to its prosecution and disregard of the court’s orders. Judge Nelson S. Roman directed the Clerk of Court to close the case and mail Bressler a copy of the Opinion and Order. The opinion did not decide the underlying dispute about Bressler’s obligation to Strum.